வணக்கம் / はじめまして / Hi, I'm Balakumar Muthu

I am an International Award-winning Entrepreneur, Technologist, received Asia Innovation Award from SingTel, Singapore, Full-stack Designer & Developer building Websites for more than 17+ years, Software Consultant for Japanese Companies, Creative DIY Hacker and a Geek based in Asia. Currently working towards the great mission to make the world a better place to work.

Being a big supporter of Linux - Ubuntu & Open source movement, organized the "Ubuntu Dapper Drake T-Shirts Contest" to create more awareness and interest for the early versions of Ubuntu Linux.

My blog is Listed as 'Favorite Blog lists at Sun Microsystems' Web Blog in 2005. Blogging since 2002 and listed as the 'Top 10 Tech blogger' by 'Blog Street India' and rated as the 'Top 50 Tech Blogger' by 'Blogs Top List' in 2005 – 2007. My blog posts have also been featured at Google Blogoscoped.com, Netscape.com, Java.net, Webpronews, Planet Mozilla, Linux Toy and few other popular blogs. Made my own blogging site at Yahoo! Geocities as geocities.com/i5bala (screenshots) in early 2002.

/ Contact & Reach me

Personally, you won’t find me on Facebook. To stay in touch or Want to work together? You can text me at: balakumar.muthu@gmail.com

My Inspirational Statue

Self-
made man, the statue I greatly admire and the principle I strongly
believe. "... left to his own devices, man will use his god-given talents to
be creative, productive, and prosperous. Using free will, he will better his
own situation and that of those around him, thereby influencing in a positive
way his own destiny..."

Swami Vivekananda Said...

"... get up, and set your shoulder to the wheel-how long is
this life for? as you have come into this world, leave some mark behind.
otherwise where is the difference between you and the trees and stones? - they
too come into existence, decay and die..." - Swami
Vivekananda

Last week Saturday [26/03/2005] was an UNFORGETTABLE, :) experience in my life. I have been called for a Final round interview at Google India Hyderabad, along with Veer Ganesh, Haroon Imran, Kumar Deepam, Jayashree Ramasubramaniam, Arjun Rajagopalan, Faheem Anaikar, out of 16,000 + people who has applied for the job [numbers as given by Mr. Akshay, HR Google India]. It was an great experience to take up a flight to Hyderabad. When we landed their 3 cabs were waiting for us to pick up to the Hi-tech City, the land where Google resides. It took some 20 – 25 minutes to reach the place. The Whole building is really amazing transparent art of work.

When we got their Mr. Ramsey and Mr. Akshay welcomed us with warm wishes. Mr. David took us to all the places at Google, Each room was named based on important landmarks of India, like the Taj Mahal - the conference room, Gateway of India, etc. He also showed us the very BIG server room, which was installed by him, which also has a real-time query window, which shows the current queries all over the world. It’s really amazing to look at what people are search all over the world in various languages.

Few things, which I love there most:

1. All the people out their, I have learned a lot from them
2. Real Time Query window, which show the current search queries
3. Big Data Server room
4. Lava Lamps

7. Body Massager
8. Every ones cabin was filled with toys, think this is what people call freedom and fun at work :)
9. Lots of chocolates, cookies, colas, coffee, sodas everywhere to keep us coooooool

The Lunch was very Tasty hmmhmm :) , we ended with a gulab jamun and the Lunch room too has a projector and white board. Every one of us received a Google T-Shirts [white] and Google Pen, which I will keep it as a precious and proud gift in my collections :).

And coming to the real action, I had a 3 round interview with Mr. Ramsey and back to back with Mr. Roy Gilbert – Head of Online Sales & Operations Google India, Mr. Thomas: took us the personal round and Mr. David and Mr. Mark took us the Technical interview [sorry I can’t blog much about that, as blogging about that is not allowed]. Actually I took the documentations of my Google Kids search prototype, but I couldn’t talk about them :( , as I don’t know to whom I have to discuss about that! :(.

I have never dreamed in my life, that I will be meeting the people, who are behind the wonderful Google technology. Now I have understood CLEARLY Why Google is the Number One technology and about the people who make it happen. I must have bought a camera to capture them live and direct, but I have captured each and every moment of the real action in my mind, which will stay evergreen and eternal through out my life :).

I take this moment to extend my BIG Hearty thanks to the Mr. Akshay, Mr. Ramsey, Mr. Roy Gilbert, Mr. Thomas, Mr. David, Mr. Mark the BIG heads of Google India and to the two security’s who helped us in the lift and the cab drivers who safely picked from and dropped us to the Airport. Thank you Guys!! :)

Please Note: You can read the follow-up of this post - Google Kids, my Google Search engine prototype specially for kids created to demonstrating during my Google India interview. more about it »

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Thank you and My Love to Google :)
Balakumar Muthu

----------------------- UPDATE -----------------------

If you looking for some technical tips on Google Interview please visit the following link:

Hey Bala! Thanks for dropping by my blog! Well Interesting blog you have here! Hey..I wish you best of luck for your final job interview with google India! Hey they have a job position as designer? hehe ;).

Great Blog Buddy, Can u do me a favour , I am a 2nd year student of Btech CS and a great fan of google and it`s technologies. Can u send me the details of joining and applying at google as developer or sys admin or else , i have a good knowledge of C C++ , python and a passion for linux . thanks for ur support , U can mail me at gauravtechie@gmail.com

hi, i am from hyderabad.I am a great fan of Google. gud work Mr. balakumar. keep it up.We got to know about the Google campus from u. u will reach great heights(not many people get to visit Google campus). Wish u all the best. Bye

Dear Friend Bala, Firstly hearty congragulations to u for having got an opportunity to take up the google intrw. Friend frm ur experiences in google u wl surely land in a gud firm soon. I wish u al the best friend. Ive applied to google so many times. I dont knw on wht basis they select. Im a fresher 2004 batch completed my BE ECE. Can u pls tel me hw u applied . my id is mailfunluv@yahoo.com.Thk u in advanceAl the Best.preethi

my congratulations to you .......this is jayachandran, and your experience was really amazing which also giving me some uplifts and i have applied for google through the job fair held at coimbatore, and also awaiting for the call even, your web site is really good you can contact me through jai_kbt@yahoo.com.

my wishes to you always for the bright future.please give me any mail ids of google to have enquiries about the vacancies and interviews

thank you once again for your wonderful piece of information and also guide me about the web technologies to build the web pages

Can u do me a favour , I am a final year student of Be CSE and a great fan of google and it`s technologies. Can u send me the details of joining and applying at google as developer or sys admin or any other designation... thanx alot 4 your support ..plz mail me at jelahi@gmail.com

hi Balayou are gr8it is not a small thing to get interviewed with google the mother of all search enginesrecently i too cleared two rounds in ad word representative of google i am waiting for the third round resultwhere r u working noware u in google nowplease do inform usi am a functional tester if any openings you come to know please do inform yaarokbyesreedhar katkam9849961987

I happen to read your blog and your exp @ Google HYD. Gr8 man!! Sounds very good man. BTW, I m kunal Modasiya working for Sun Microystems, Bangalore in Telecom Network Management sollution systems. Looks like you are passionate about Java and open source. Sun is all about Open Solaris and Father of Java. When I met James gosling last year here at Bangalore, that was my unforgottable day. Why dont you give a try at Sun Bangalore. I'm sure if you give a try at Sun Micorystems bangalore, that would be your 2nd unforgottable day in your life.

hi balacongrats 4 ur sucess.u have done a gr8 job.u r really a gem and got reward 4 that.u didnt mention where r you now whether workin with them or not.plzz tell whether they take students from reputed institutes only ot others too.once againn congrats n wish u good luck in future.byeesupriya

Hi Bala, I am Namrata. I must say that u have achieved the dream job which every techie wishes to get.It was really very nice to know about exactly how the company looks like which i think gets the opportunity to only few people like u. Reading this i am also dreaming to get into Google.I am in T.E.computer.can u just mail me how did u actually got selected and the criteria for selection in google? my email id is nam_keen83@yahoo.co.in

Hey, that's good .But that's not enough .U could have posted some info regarding interview starting from written .That would definitly be a boost for some of the aspirants .Also give something abt interviews , what all should one be prepard b4 attending the interview,I think that would make people really appricate ur concern for fellow mates.If u have some time send me a mail to my Id abt this:ranjan6480@rediffmail.com.

HiLots of people on the blog have said great things. But I think the blog could have been a lot more descriptive and describe in greater detail as to when working at a place like Google is as phenomenal as people make it out to be!

All the best! One day, soon, I hope to join Google too. But if I don't make it there, which is very likely, then I *wish* to build a new Google, which will give you guys a run for your money ... (This is meant as a complement to Google and not as my boast)

Hi bala, great post.Tell us if u finally got selected there, best of luck from our side.I needed some help from you, i am working as a search engine optimizer in delhi and applied online to google for testing evaluator abt 1 week back, i have relevant exp also but till not heard from them, i wanted to know abt their interview process, mail me at rajatr@gmail.com

Try to do some research on the company, search engines, spiders, crawlers, SEO techniques, spamming, cloaking, black hat and white hat SEO techniques, affiliate programs and terms related to the above topics

Try to search for “online testing evaluator” in google.

Be acquainted with google services and google tools

must be extremely through with your resume (from top to bottom)

Above all very good communication skills, verbal, nonverbal, written skills

Also prepare yourself to answer all of these questions.

1. Tell me about yourself.2. What are some of your strengths?3. Tell me about some of your skills that apply to this job.4. What accomplishment do you feel most proud of?5. Tell me what you think your former coworkers would say about you.6. What did you think about your former boss?7. Why are you leaving your former company?8. Why would you like to work for this company?9. What do you see yourself doing 5 years from now?10. Don't you think you might be too inexperienced/overqualified for this position?11. What do you consider to be your greatest failure?12. What weaknesses do you think you have?13. Have you ever been late for work or an important appointment?14. How much do you know about our company?15. How do you explain that you were at your last company for only 6 month?16. What were you doing between the time you worked for that company and today?17. What is the most difficult interpersonal situation you have had to deal with at work, and how did you handle it?18. Are you looking for a position in many other companies?19. Are you familiar with our company mission statement, and if so, what do you think of it?20. How would you describe your personality?21. When would you be willing to start work?22. Give me an example of how you react to change.23. What do you think you could accomplish in your first year here?24. We have many applicants for this position. Why should I hire you?

I think this guy is something! he is young,smart,geeky and he absolutely loves what he does,which is sexy I think and he does put an effort into everything he does, actually passion oozes out his blogs and... Bala.. i feel man..:)

hiiiiii i want to work in google company the most reputed company where we can learn lot of things and where we can use our brainz and i want to be with the company for next 5 years ........with my hard work and discipline

Hope u vl get thru . It is challenging though getting into such a fabulous company. Not to flaunt it, nothing is impossible as its a human creation n innovation and v make it a success. In a nutshell, bala, i would congratulate you for being the most luckiest aspirant among thousands and i wish you all the best in your future endeavors. The last but not the least, I would appreciate if you can assist me more about google and the kind of people they look for in a candidate regardless of the background/streams/platforms.

hi BALA,nice to see ur blogs,i am a final year student of B.E college,shibpore,GOOGLE is coming in ur campus this month !!i will be extremely grateful to u if u plz send me the pattern of written exam,what kind of program do they ask and tell me something about interview.....plz i am waiting for ur reply eagerly.... avishek avishek.gc@gmail.complllllzzzzzz mail me.

Hi BALA, nice to see ur blogs,i am a final yr student of engineering(I.T).GOOGLE is coming in ur college for campus interview,my college is B.E.college shibpur,plz send me details of written tests,and what kind of program do they ask,how should i prepare for interview also,what things r to be done(if i have to stress on any special subject) plz inform !!waiting for ur reply plzzzzz reply!! avishek avishek.gc@gmail.com

Hi Bala,You are a top notch enthu guy i really liked your attitude of mentioning about your experience in such a positive manner,however can you brief me a little bit more about your interaction with all the top honcos of Google and what were there expectations from you during the interview specially Mr Roy. my id is praveen_cool7@yahoo.co.in

Superb expalanation of your experience and your attitude before being selected for the company was worth appreciation.However can you brief me more about your interaction with all the top honcos of google,what were there expecations from you during the interview.

I AM HAPPY TO HEAR THAT SOME ONE REALLY PASSIONATE ABOUT GOOGLE IS JOINING IT.I my self am very passionate about google. I am still in the second round of interview(OTE). i need some help from you so that i may join u. i am from hyderabad and i happen to meat u at the sun techdays i hope u remember me.please help me in this regard and do send me some tips

Hi Guys, I am Sendil, I cleared 8 Rounds at Google. They even flew me to Hyderabad centre. I went through 4 rounds at Hyd. I was 90% confident because I was the first to make it to the top for the post of OTE in india. You cant even make out what credentials they look in you when they are interviewing u. They never give feedback to people who are not selected. Anyway its a nice experience to be at google. If not google there is some place where we all can show our talents.

All the best guys, keep trying to innovate. Any of us can make a google of our own.

Hi Guys, I am Sendil, I cleared 8 Rounds at Google. They even flew me to Hyderabad centre. I went through 4 rounds at Hyd. I was 90% confident because I was the first to make it to the top for the post of OTE in india. You cant even make out what credentials they look in you when they are interviewing u. They never give feedback to people who are not selected. Anyway its a nice experience to be at google. If not google there is some place where we all can show our talents.

All the best guys, keep trying to innovate. Any of us can make a google of our own.

Cut the cheese or crap guys.......... damn we are r the best n great ofcourse so chill i say every dog has its day......... i dont compliment bala.... for unknown its a wonderworld for practical its part of life...... so lead it........ never ever go for blues there is alwayz a saturation point.... remember it......